The Flickcast – Page 240 of 1030 – Stuff Nerds Love

Official Release Dates Surface For Sequels To Fox’s Successful Apes and X-Men Prequels

Posted on May 31, 2012

Last year Fox defied all expectations by releasing not one, but two successful prequels to franchises they seemingly had run into the ground. Not only were these properties reeling from recent mishandling, Fox itself has a poor recent history with quality genre, and blockbuster films.

So when X-Men: First Class and Rise of the Planet of the Apes both turned out to be so good, people were shocked. Sequels to these prequels were a forgone conclusion and now thanks to the diligent folks at Box Office Mojo we have dates for both.

The Apes sequel is working under the title Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and is going to be coming first, May 23rd, 2014. Not much is known about the movie just yet, but it is safe to assume based on the working title the movie will have something to do with Ceaser building an Ape community that will eventually kill nearly all the humans on earth.

The X-Men sequel will stake a claim in one of the last prime weekends of the Summer season, July 18th, 2014. The movie is thought to be about Magneto’s further fall into villainy, which is a great angle to play when you have such a great actor in the roll. The primary cast is expected to return, but with production not beginning until next year it might be some time before that is confirmed.

Brand New ‘The Bourne Legacy’ Trailer with Jeremy Renner Arrives

Posted on May 31, 2012

As it happens with most successful action franchises, the main star eventually gets tired of making the films, or gets too old, and wants to move on to something else. A prime example of this is, of course, the James Bond series which has had several actors playing the titular hero.

Another example is the Bourne franchise which featured Matt Damon as the title hero Jason Bourne. He wasn’t interested in returning for another movie so producers turned to another actor, Jeremy Renner, to carry on the franchise. The result is the upcoming The Bourne Legacy, which Universal has just released a new trailer for.

In it we see Renner in action as a different member of the Treadstone team and we also get some new faces, including Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Stacy Keach and Oscar Isaac, as well as established franchise players like Albert Finney, Joan Allen, David Strathairn and Scott Glenn.

Plus, surprise, Matt Damon is also in the trailer as Jason Bourne. Weird. I wonder what that could mean?

Check out the trailer after the break. Look for The Bourne Legagy to arrive in theaters on August 3.

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Google and Samsung Unveil New Chromebook and Chromebox Computers

Posted on May 31, 2012

Even with companies like Apple, HP, Dell and Microsoft trying to dominate the mobile and desktop computing space, that hasn’t stopped Google and partner Samsung from doing their best to get a piece of your hard earned dollars. To help their cause, this week Google and Samsung announced a new Chromebook and Chromebox computer.

In case you’re not familiar with the Chrome concept, both new machines are powered by Google’s cloud-based Chrome OS and not Android or other more traditional computer operating system. In other words, all your documents and data are stored on Google’s Cloud and not on the local machine.

In addition, Samsung’s newest Chromebook, the Series 5 550, features a 12.1-inch display, an Intel Core processor, 4GB of RAM, an HD Camera, two USB 2.0 ports and six hours of continuous battery life. All in all some decent specs.

The Chromebox is styled after Apple’s Mac mini and adds four additional USB 2.0 ports. Both come equipped with built-in dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and Gigbit ethernet, however the Chromebook also has a 3G connectivity option. The Chromebook Series 5 550 starts at $449 and the Chromebox can be purchased for $329.

Both devices are available now. What do you think? Is this the future of computing?

The PlayStation 4 Will Not Be a Download Only Console, Shipping in 2013?

Posted on May 30, 2012

One of the major contributing factors to the PS3’s inability to gain initial traction during it’s launch was the fact that it came out to late. In fact, it hit shelves almost a full year after the XBOX 360, allowing Microsoft to convert many first adopters before Sony even had a product in the market place.

It looks like Sony might not let that happen again.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a source close to Sony indicates that the new console should be hitting store shelves in 2013. In addition to the relatively close release window, the source also confirmed that the system will not be a download only console as previously hinted:

Sony decided against a download-only model largely because Internet connections are too inconsistent around the world, one of the people familiar with Sony’s thinking said. Because game files are large, customers in countries where Internet connections are relatively slow would be hobbled by a requirement to download games, the person said.

Sony won the first two rounds it their console wars because they were on the cutting edge in home entertainment, not just gaming. The PS1 was the best CD player in just about any home it was in, the PS2 was the first DVD player for an incredibly large number of people. Even the PS3 found later success as a premiere Blu-Ray player, not just a gaming console. So Sony should be looking into the next step of home entertainment for the PS4.

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‘G.I. Joe Retaliation’ Was Delayed for More Than Just 3D Reasons

Posted on May 30, 2012

When we heard that GI Joe Retaliation was pushed back to May 2013 we were bummed. The trailers did a great job of getting everyone excited about a new GI Joe film, which is a minor miracle in and of itself. The original word was to do a ‘proper’ 3D post convert, which kinda sounded like BS, and it turns out it was.

Deadline is reporting that mediocre to poor test screening results and cold feet from killing off the first film’s star Channing Tatum in the first act are the principal reasons for the delay. Which is funny, because one of the aspects that fans were rallying behind with the new film was the balls to kill of the characters that didn’t work in the first film.

Now we are in an odd place. On the surface, this can be seen as a good move, allowing the filmmakers time to make better a film that many of us were looking forward to. On the other hand, if this is all the work of the studio who wants nothing more than to shoe horn a rising star into a franchise that he already proved ill-equipped to lead, we may have lost something fun.

No one will know for sure until next May, but at the very least this film will go down as an interesting what if moment in film.

First Trailer for ‘Les Miserables’ Promises an Epic Musical Experience

Posted on May 30, 2012

The musical is one of the most interesting types of storytelling. It is all together ludicrous to have all of your characters stop what they are doing and relate their emotions in song. But for all that silliness it is also one of the most pure and powerful ways to convey emotion and impact onto an audience.

One of the most popular, and longest running, musicals out there is Les Miserables, based on the Victor Hugo novel. The story is classic and has been adapted before for film, but now the popular musical version is receiving the big budget cinematic treatment.

Now we get our first look at what exactly we can expect from this big budget cinematic adaptation in the form of the film’s first trailer. You can judge for yourself if it feels suitably epic for you, but I can assure you this feels very right. The cast seems spot on, and the look and tone seem to be right as well.

For those of you who have yet to experience the music of Les Miserables in some form or another yet in life, do yourself a favor and pencil this one in to your year-end movie watching calender.

The movie comes out this December and you can check out the trailer after the jump.

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Movie Review: Moonrise Kingdom

Posted on May 30, 2012

I originally was going to write that Moonrise Kingdom was, at 94 minutes, among Wes Anderson’s shortest films, but after researching the running times of his previous work, it actually is right in the middle–shorter than The Life Aquatic (119 minutes) and The Royal Tenenbaums (109 minutes), but longer than Rushmore (93 minutes) and Bottle Rocket (92).

I think the difference is in the pacing (though all of Anderson’s films seem longer to me when they’re not on the big screen), because it didn’t feel lagging at any point. As good as Bottle Rocket and Rushmore are, I felt both started strong and then quickly slowed down, only to start rolling again in the third act. Moonrise is funny, engaging, and delightful all throughout.

The time is 1965, the place is a secluded New England island where the narrator (Bob Balaban) gives us a quick rundown of its history and the typical way of life–nothing much happens, and the mail is flown in every so often via waterplane. The inhabitants are the Bishops: Walt (Bill Murray), Laura (Frances McDormand), their sons, and their daughter Suzy (Kara Hayward); and the Khaki Scouts, something like the Junior Woodchucks but without the guidebook.

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Two New Clips from the Brad Pitt Mob Film ‘Killing Them Softly’

Posted on May 29, 2012

Brad Pitt generally plays the good guy, the hero, the alpha male. So when he gets a chance to spread his acting chops and play something different you can expect an enthusiastic, quality performance. Killing Them Softly looks to provide Pitt with just that kind of juicy role.

For those of you who are unaware of what Killing Them Softly is, take a look at this synopsis to give you some context before the clips:

Three dumb guys who think they’re smart rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse. Brad Pitt plays the enforcer hired to track them down and restore order. KILLING THEM SOFTLY also features Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta… KILLING THEM SOFTLY is written for the screen and directed by Andrew Dominik, and is based on the George V. Higgins novel, “Cogan’s Trade”.

The movie has pedigree, and a formidable cast so it has always been on our radar. Now we have these clips to add to that stew of anticipation, go ahead and add yet another film onto the heap of worthwhile films coming soon from worthwhile creatives.

Check out the two new clips after the jump.

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